What is news?

Actually, something is news only if the news media decides it is news. Every day at the Bangkok Post, for example, our editors decide what the news is for the next day. They assign reporters to cover what they feel are important local happenings and they also select from hundreds of local and international stories that we get from news agencies.

How do they make their decisions? It is mostly by experience. They simply "know" what is news. They don’t have a formal set of criteria (set of reasons) that they check each story against. But people who study the newspaper business say there really is a set of criteria although it may be largely subconscious (done without thinking). They say there is a set of factors that commonly determines what stories newspaper editors choose to put in their newspapers.

Below are some of the most important of these factors. Read through the list carefully because you will use it throughout the lesson.

Immediacy Events that are happening today or that happened yesterday are more interesting to the reader than events of the days before. News loses its freshness very quickly.

Proximity (nearness) Readers are generally more interested in something that has happened close to home rather than far away, unless there is a local connection to that faraway place — like a Thai student receiving an award in a foreign country, for example.

Impact Readers are interested in things that affect them. That is why the Bangkok Post carries stories on air pollution or the start of construction that may cause traffic jams.

Conflict Readers are interested in stories dealing with conflict, such as stories about protests, elections, war, sports, family disputes, or crime.

Prominence (fame) Readers are naturally interested in the activities of famous people or events involving powerful countries or organisations.

Intensity In general, big events receive more coverage than small events. For example an accident which kills 50 people is more likely to be covered than one which kills only two – unless, of course, the two are famous.

Strangeness Very unusual or funny stories also make news – events that are much different from the expected and everyday experiences of life.

Suspense News events or situations that are not yet finished – like a murder trial or the choosing of a new Thai prime minister — can cause great reader interest.

Emotion Events that cause readers to feel sympathy, anger, sadness or happiness are often considered to be newsworthy.

Progress Stories of great achievements – like a powerful new medicine, a successful mission to the planet Mars or a new method of controlling flooding in Bangkok – are very likely to receive coverage in the Bangkok Post.

Gender Stories about the changing roles of males and females – single parents, women fighting in wars, fathers caring for children while their wives work – also receive newspaper coverage.

This week you have a number of short stories to read and think about. First try to understand each story and then decide why it appeared in the Bangkok Post. Look through the list of criteria above and decide (1) which one was the primary factor and (2) what other factors were also involved. Most stories in the Bangkok Post meet several of the criteria above or they wouldn’t be considered newsworthy.

Housewives give Samak fruity idea Among 100 people who showed up yesterday to support the Prachakorn Thai leader was a group of housewives with bags of limes around their necks. The housewives, who claim to be staunch supporters of Samak Sundaravej, said the limes would protect the party and its leader from cobras. Mr Samak likened the 13 party dissidents to cobras. The housewives said farmers take limes into the rice field because citric acid is said to drive snakes away. staunch loyal; firm dissidents people who publicly disagree with their group or leader

Lung cancer biggest risk to Thais says health expert Lung cancer caused by smoking and toxic pollution is the biggest threat to Thais, says a medical expert. People living near chemical factories, lignite-fired power plants and in polluted areas are at high risk of contracting lung cancer, said Dr Suchart Pichyangkura, director of the Medical Service Department. toxic poisonous

Condition of ‘miracle’ seven serious Des Moines, USA, Reuters A 29-year-old woman gave birth on Wednesday to four boys and three girls – the world’s only known set of living septuplets – in what doctors called a "miracle". All of the babies were reported in serious condition seven hours after the births by caesarean section. One boy who had been judged in critical condition a few hours after being born later improved and his condition was upgraded to serious. miracle something which happens but is impossible according to ordinary laws of nature caesarean section an operation in which a woman's body is cut open to allow a baby to be taken out

Chinese gangster killed in gun battle with police A Chinese gangster was killed in a gun battle with police who later arrested two other gang members on Sunday night. The gunfight erupted shortly after an immigration police team stopped a car on Ratchadapisek Road around 9 p.m. on Sunday. Three Chinese men inside the car driven by Bancha Charat were suspected to belong to a Chinese gang responsible for the murder of 24-year-old Chin Chieo Zing, also a Chinese.

Aprons and hats to be promoted Beginning next month roadside food vendors in selected areas will be asked to wear aprons and head gear as a mark of hygiene and cleanliness, Bangkok deputy governor Kachit Choonpanya said yesterday. The city administration has targeted 80 areas where some 2,267 food vendors operate. Of these, 362 have already been accorded "stars" for complying with the city’s 10 regulations to ensure that Bangkok’s health-conscious consumers are offered hygienic food. But Bangkok Governor Bhichit Rattakul is not taking everything for granted. Fearing that after receiving the stars some vendors might turn slack and not observe the ten commandments, he has asked city officials to be extra vigilant to ensure those star-recipients dished out only quality food. hygiene cleanliness, esp. as related to preventing disease complying obeying; following (a rule, etc.) taking for granted believing that something will happen without checking up to see that it actually does slack lazy; careless vigilant watchful

Apparent suicide stuns family Sydney, AFP The family and close friends of Michael Hutchence struggled yesterday to understand what made him take his own life as a stunned music industry mourned the superstar known as "the wild man of rock". The London-based Australian lead singer of rock band INXS was found hanged from a leather belt attached to a door a lavish suite in an exclusive harbourside hotel on Saturday only days after he returned to Australia. Empty alcohol bottles were found in the suite along with prescription pills but no note or illegal drugs were discovered, police sources said yesterday. stunned shocked mourned expressed sadness over a death lavish very expensive prescription pills pills (medicine) ordered by a doctor

Look through one or more issues of the Bangkok Post. Choose 5 or more stories and decide why they appeared in the Bangkok Post on that day. Try to choose stories that are very different in content. Teachers’ Notes
This lesson was developed with the help of an enthusiastic group of university and college English teachers who attended a seminar at the Bangkok Post building recently. It is a very powerful lesson that you can easily adapt for your own class at any time. All you need is the set of criteria given in the introduction and one or more issues of the Bangkok Post. The lesson combines reading with some very sophisticated, yet relatively easy and entertaining, thought. In the process, your students will become much more aware of the news media.

I suggest you start with a class discussion (before you look at the lesson) and consider what news is. Ask your students if they have every seen or participated in a news event – one which was covered by the newspapers or by radio or television. What kind of stories are covered in the local newspaper, for example? You might want to give some examples for them to consider, e.g. an accident killing a Thai movie star (yes) an accident killing 5 people in India (probably not), the Thai prime minister meeting the president of the United States (yes), a Thai farmer losing his small farm because of high debts (probably not), etc. Consider why some stories are covered and others are not.

Next have the students read the introduction. Point out that news is only an idea – people in the news media decide what is news and what is not. Then have your students consider the set of criteria which follows. This is actually a summary of several different lists of criteria that were made by academics who study the news business. I suggest you go through each factor one by one.

Next have the students apply what they have learned to the actual news stories included with the lesson. This is best done in small groups. The stories are short enough so that each group should be able to consider all of them. Have them first read for understanding and then have them decide why each story appeared in the Bangkok Post. At the end of the class (or later in the week) lead a class discussion in which the students give their opinions. I use the word "opinions" because there is no one "correct" answer. Choosing the news is a subjective process.

Expect the various groups to have differing opinions. This is good and you should encourage your students to defend their opinions by making specific references to the stories under consideration.

For those of you who have ordered the Bangkok Post for each of your students today, the follow-up exercise will be especially useful. Have your students go through the front section (including the sports pages) and decide why various stories were selected.

•This lesson was prepared by Acharn Terry Fredrickson, BA Stanford, MA (TESL) University of Minnesota, Manager of the Educational Services Department at the Bangkok Post and general editor of this programme. This week Acharn Terry also had the help of an energetic group of university teachers plus a group of university students.